A San Francisco based food and restaurant blog

Post navigation

Cheers To The Working Class

I have a few concerns and thoughts to go over with my small group of readers before I share the overwhelming amount of food consumed this weekend.

1. Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you got to take the day off work. Or, if you’re like myself, then you get a day off school even though you just started last week. Score!

2. Is it still a faux pas to wear white after Labor Day? I really hope not because I just ordered the cutest white pants from J.Crew’s labor day sale. Hmmm…maybe that is why they were on sale. Good thing San Francisco is not too judgmental about these sorts of things. I hope you will forgive me and I will try to remember next year.

3. Does anyone follow NPR’s instagram? I really enjoyed their ‘How To Make…’ dumpling series from all over the world. Check it out if you have time.

Saturday

Starting from Saturday, I was minding my own business at work when I received a phone call from of my favorite people ever, Bobby Moon. No, that’s not his real name but our little circle has called him that for so long now that anything else sounds preposterous. He told me he was on a ferry (wtf?) on the way to San Francisco and wanted to eat dim sum with a few mutual friends.

PS: It never occurred to me that people can take ship as their normal daily transportation. Bobby came up to visit from LA and his girlfriends family lives in the North Bay.

I have never been one to turn down dim sum nor do I have the ambition to change that so I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get off work.

I caught a Sidecar to Abby’s house and we walked over to Great Eastern in Chinatown and only had to wait twenty minutes! Ever since President Obama came to SF and ate here, the lines have been excruciating long so it was nice to not have to stake out early in the morning for a coveted number. Thank you Labor Day and the closure of the Bay Bridge!

We ordered around 11 dishes between the four of us, but you can see all the dim sum from my post in Guangzhou. (I covered most of the essential plates over in that post.)

Have you tried these egg custard tarts? We call them Dan Tat in Chinese and they are ridiculously amazing. Call me biased but I think the Chinese has the best pastries and deserts.

After walking around and feeling like a tourist, we schlepped back to Abby’s house and I got to play a game of tug-o-war with my god son, Bailey.

And then we dropped Bobby off at the Ferry Building, but decided to grab a bite to eat at Gott’s Roadhouse first. I want this sign for my room but I don’t know if I have enough wall space. Wouldn’t that be cool?

He ordered a Gottspacho (gazpacho) to share with everyone, I might of guzzled down most of it when no one was looking. 🙂 If anyone is asking, I recommend to dip your fries in your gazpacho. Fire!

I ordered the Green Chile Cheeseburger w/ jack cheese, lettuce, onions, salsa verde & charred jalapeño mayo on a toasted egg bun. The staff favorite was to substitute the beef patty with a turkey patty and I felt compelled to listen to the cashier. And it was delicious.

Sunday

The sun was out, nobody had to work and it was a long weekend. So where do we start off our day?

Beretta, of course! Whenever I don’t see a line outside, I feel like it’s a rip off to not stop in. We were on our way to Dolores Park to enjoy the festivities when we decided that all of our stomachs could of used a little padding before getting crazy at the park.

The antipasti was beef carpaccio w/ arugula, parmesan and capers. What do you think about carpaccio? I’ve eaten out with people that both loved or hated it and it’s always one extreme or the other.

Gnocchi Florentine w/ spinach, Italian ham, bechamel, tomato, parmesan and panagratatto. I love gnocchi (especially Beretta’s appetizer with porcini mushrooms & smoked pancetta) but I felt that these fell a little short of my expectations. The flavor was delicious and I can’t say anything bad about food ever because I love it, but it tasted more like mush then gnocchi.

I love runny eggs so I was surprised when I realized I never had it on my pizza before! This was the carbonara w/ bacon, eggs, mozzarella, pecorino & cracked black pepper. Yum, I couldn’t get enough.

Finally after feeling stuffed, we drove a few blocks to Dolores Park and got a good spot in front of a bunch of dudes playing volleyball.

I can’t express enough how much I love Dolores. We had a a trio of high schoolers serenade us with their Caribbean steel drums.

1. When is the last time you have seen a steel drum?

2. What high schoolers even knows how to play one? I just imagine them going home after school to practice their set list and felt a little warm in the heart after.

3. Do you even know what a steel drum is?

Everyone started playing ladder ball and I was too tired to get up so I took a cat nap.

I don’t have words to describe the next picture but look at the size of this water container. It is literally the size of two (2) normal human heads. You could fit 2 two-liter cokes into this huge thing.

And for the grand finale, the highly coveted Ramenburger! 50% pork belly and 50% Wagyu patty between two Ramen noodle buns with shoyu sauce, cheddar and bacon.

Remember when I showed you how the Ramenburger sold out at La Cocina? Well, Abby and I did not put up well with that so we made everyone come and try it with us against their will. It was nice to be able to say that I ate it but I think this meal officially ended my obsession with the Ramenburger.

Happy Labor Day again and hopefully everyone ate as well as I did!

PS: It is so hard to put a duvet on by yourself. Where is my +1 when I need one?

What did you do during the long weekend? Thoughts on the ramenburger, yes or no?

Happy Labor Day! Your eats look amazing! I’m very jealous, especially as I sit here waiting for my Thai food to be delivered! Lol! Looks like you had a really great weekend. Ours was low key but fun! 🙂

Um…I’m drooling after reading this post! YUM! This all look so good. We had a good weekend, but not nearly as fun in the culinary department. And now I’m off to follow NPR on Instagram. Thanks for the tip!

All of your food was insane! I would totally try the ramenburger if they had a vegetarian version.

Strangely enough, the closure of the bay bridge made traffic so much better over here! However, this morning was a total biatch. Glad to hear it made for an easy experience at Great Eastern restaurant.

Yeah, um, Tara… All this food just literally made me so hungry!! It was like I was just scrolling through Pinterest but so much better! I love it! That Ramen burger would be cause to quit being a vegetarian, for sure! Cool that your friend took a ferry to get to you! 🙂
Gosh your weekend sounds amazing.. Jealous.

Your food and adventures always make me SO jealous! AH! Okay that ramen burger looks alright, but I get the feeling it would be a little too much for me, you know? My long weekend was spent with TONS of relaxing! I didn’t do much at all, but it was just what I needed!

You are chinese? Sorry, I have only started reading your blog recently, so I didnt chance upon that fact ! (until I clicked that link today!). Sorry if I sound rude, I just didn’t think about it before!
your food adventures are soo great!

I’m, like, the least fashionable person I know. But, I do like to read some style blogs and it seems like all of those old school rules are being discarded; I see lots of print layering, mixing brown and black, etc. Especially since you live in SF, where you can wear anything and not get a second look!

I LOVE DIM SUM SO MUCH. This food looks amazing! I tried my first egg custard tart while in Singapore and it was amazing. We even found one with coconut mixed into it 🙂

TARA CONDELL

Hello, my name is Tara and I am a twenty something year old living life in San Francisco, CA. Follow me while I embark on a journey to become a Registered Dietitian while enjoying my golden years!
To read more about me, click here.

Contact: tara(@)foodandotherthings.com

SUBSCRIBE VIA E-MAIL

Want to catch up with my life but too busy to come back every other day? Sign up for an e-mail subscription so you don't miss another post!

ASPIRING RD

Here is a simplified list of all the things I have to finish before I can successfully have the title of an RD!
1. Get accepted in a Dietetics program2. Finish all my major related classes3. Get accepted into a Dietetic Internship4. Sit for the RD Exam5. Pass and start the beginning of the rest of my life! :)